Linear measuring device



Feb. 8 41927.

Nl. KING, JR

LINEAR MEASURING DEVICE Filed April 17. 1922 u I uu' I llllll1|| ll IIIIIIIIHIIIIl [Il IIIIII lullllllllllllvll ll ll i lvide, means for accurately land quickly inest? M'ARK KING, JR., or NiiivRociinLLn, vNEW AYORK, AssiefNoR'io AMERICAN TELE" PHONE AND TELEGRAPR: COMPANY, A ooRroRA'rioN oFNEwYoRK. Y

- e LINEAR 'MEASURING DEVICE'.

Application filed-April 17, Y19222. Serialll'o. 554,289.

This inventionrelates to measuring de,-V

vice's andv particularly to meansufor -deter-` mining the linear dimension ofi-.an object to bejmeasured, Y I

lIn the placing of electric cablesor other conductors such, for example as those used :for signaling or ypower' purposes,.it is loften desirable to ldetermine quickly and accurately the amount of cable that'v has been removed from the reelupon which such cables or conductors lare placedl atter manufacture. It is'theobject of this invention to pro.

dicating or' registering the linear dimension of vflexible, ineXtens'ible objects, such,

for example, as cables or other conductors, 4the said means being operated automatically by virtue of the'reinoval of the'cable fromv the reel or other supportupon which may bel located. Furthermore, this inventionis characterized byl an arrangement adapted to'minimize slippage between the cable f to be measured and the drum of the measuring device with which the .cable is in contact,

thereby' increasing the accuracy of measurenient. y

Gther' objects of apparent -from thevr following description when read in connection with the attached "drawing, of which Figure l shows aside Vview of the drum upon which. the object rests, and alsoof the ,spool which affords 'a bearingsurface for the drum; Fig. 2 shows a front view of the saiddrum; 3 shows a meter adapted for use with the said drum; I' Fig. 4 shows the shaft for supporting the entire measuring device and Fig.' 5 shows the manner in which this inventionmay be in Fig, i, which is represented asl being broken in part, l 4represents afcylindrical Vspool having Jloi-ined therein a square holeV 2,.whicli is adapted to receive Va shaft in order to support the said spool and the other parts adjacent thereto. This spool,

whose outer edge is represented by 3, has

foi-ined therein a plurality of grooves rep resented by 4. in which are placed the ball bearings 7. These grooves, which are indicated by 16 in Fig. 2,' lie in planes perpendicular to the axis ot the said spool.

Placed over the spoolv andsupported thereby is a drum 5, whose' inner circumrerence 6 rests upon Athe ball bearings L. The outer this invention will be edge 8- of the drum 5 is nota smocth surface but is broken by. undulations to present greater yfriction. between the cable l12 and the drumL 5. Attached to both sides of the drui'nl are flanges 9,V which serve to keep' the object to be measured in position upon the said drum. TheseV flanges are secured vce by the flat rings 110, vheldin position'byfy means ofthe bolts ll-ell, which Vextend 1;,

throughV theholes 14 kbored longitudinally throughthe core of the said drum. A hole i5 forinedin the oneend ofthe spoolfl is.

threaded so as to. receive a' bolt attached Ato the meter shown in Fig; '3, which indiey cates the lengthfoi Vthe cable passingover `the drum 5. Oil holes 13 are inserted yin the ring 10 in order that the bearings 7 may be properly lubricated,

Fig.r2 shows more clearly two of tli'e holes mentioned in connection vwith Fig, l. The

grooves 16. which lformfthe race-ways for Y the ball bearings are represented `neareach end of the spool upon which the drii'mrests. gt is to vbe `understood ythat anyiiumber of such groovesfniay be` provided'. as isnec'essary to provide substantially' frictionless '1 supportfor the drum.V `'llfhe reduction of friction between the vdrinn `and the; spoolI is esl one ofthe features of inyinvention since it tendsfto minimize the slippage o f the cable over the-.surface of the drinn and therebyl renders more accurate the registered measurement. Q

The register shown in Fig. 3 maybe of any well known type in whichl the registeringctrainsV are operated by means of a sprocket 2l, which is advanced by means of a moving obj ectcoining in contact therewith.

This register is provided with a bolt 22, fastened to the register bymeans of a lock-nut,

Vand adapted to be inserted .in thel threaded hole 15 in one end of the spool. l. The end ofV n the bolt l1 is made longer than the `other l bolts so as to engage theteeth Vof the sprocket 21 as the drum 5 revolves around the spool l. he distance traversed is indicated upon. the dial 28. rlhe -bolt 22 isi-threaded in such a direction that the rotation ofthe drinn v will tend to tighten the connectionA of the registerk to the spool.

Fig. l shows a shaft tobe insertedin the spool 1. The dimensionsv` of this shaft and its finish should be such that the spool may rfreely slide longitudinally upon 'the shaftjibut cannot rotate thereon. It will thus be seen tliatthe spool- 1 is `i'xedrelative yto the drum 5 and Valso that theregister 20,

which is rigidly fastened to the spool l, is

falso fixed relative tothe rotatable drum..`

The shaft 17 @has inthe ends thereof holes v18 which are adapted to receive the pins 19 Yfor maintaining it in definite position upony v[the supportsll shownv iii Fig. 5V, or other K Y supp'crirting means 'up-on which 'the VshaftV may be placed.

vio

'Having iii mind the' foregoing description vof theparts in which this invention is emV Y bodied it will be. clearly Vunderstood from the following decriptiion of the 'niakingl a measurement;

method of [.ff-'lli` cable 12, er" other conductorfroni a reel, such,y for example, as shown 'in'lig 5q Vis placed upon vthe periphery of the drum between vtlie'two flanges 9. The measuring ldevice is preferably placedhiglier than the Cable reel so that. the cableV will be in .con-

tact with Va considerable portion of the drum 5. [ofthe measuring device, l. thereby increasing the friction between tlie'cable and the c drum, aiictdiniinishing slippage. Asr the cablejisdrawii from the cable reel the drum 5 YVrotates freely about the spool 1, and the Y bolt-end 11 comes in contact with a toothl of, the sprocletQl once in each revolution of` Vthe said drum. The; rotation of Vthe r i sprocket aotu'ate's the registering 'train which indicates upon 'tlieJdial-QS the linear distance traversed `by Va point upoiithe periphery Vof the druin. By making the spool readily 'slidable upon the shaftl the meas- Vuringidevice willi tend to keep in alignment with'thecable l2 in lthe' course of unreeling Y Vfrom the cable reel;l which will tendtoward Y accuracy. of measurement.

Although'. this invention has been Vdescribedvasl embodied in a particular arrangement, it is to be understood that it is capable Y of embodiment Vin other and different forms April, v1922.vv

ing; therethrough, the axis of the opening` coinciding. with .the axis. of the drum, of a cylindrical spool inserted in the said opening oft-he diuinytlie said spool having friction-reducing` bearings between its outer:

surface Aand the surface ofthe cylindrical opening'in the 4said drum to permit the free rotation of the latter, a shaft having a noncircula-i' cross-section extending through a non-cylindrical opening in the said Vspool Vto slidably but notrotatably support the said'.V

spool, and a register supported by the said spool and actuated by the relative motion of tliesaid drumand the said spool.

' 2; lna measuring device5 the combination with aV reel comprising a rotatable -liaiiged driim` having arcylindrical opening extending therethrough, of a slizdab'le spool inserted in the saidopeniiig havingl fri,ction-reducing` 'bearingsv between theA outersurfaee of the said spool and the surface of the opening` through the said drum to permit the free rotation lof the latter,za shaftof non-circular crossesection adapted Ato extend 'through lanv opening' in the said's'pool having;` asimilar cross-section 'wherebyV the said spool is slidi ably but not vrotatably'supported, anda register supported bythe saidspool k'and actuated by the relative motion of the said drum and the said spool, and calibratedto indicate the distance traversed by a `fixed point` 'onthe peripheryof the 'y said Ydrum during its rotation. Y f Y InV testimony whereof, I'have signed my name vto this specification this 15th day of 1 MARK KING; Jig 

